"You can't be a cast member on this show and not have like a baby a year," joked Mariska Hargitay (Lt. Olivia Benson), who spoke with TODAY on the "SVU" set Thursday ahead of the series' 18th season.

"I have three kids, Ice-T [Det. Odafin Tutuola] and Kelli [Giddish, Det Amanda Rollins] [have one baby each], Peter [Scanavino, Det. Dominick Carisi Jr.] has two, and there are days when the kids are here and you're like, 'Is this a day care center?'" she added.

He then made sure to pull up a melt-worthy image of Chanel holding Ludo's hand during a recent photo shoot on his cell. We found it on Instagram and are now puddles on the floor:

Cast members agree having kids around is a good thing.

"You go home and you look into your children's eyes and it changes everything," says Hargitay. "It's like, everything's OK because you're right here in front of me and now I see life and newness and hope and beauty and all those things we see.

"Our kids can take the day off us ... It's a love chain here. We are in it together," she says.